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Old 10-29-2012, 01:03 PM   #13
oisin bourke
 
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Dojo: Muden Juku, Ireland
Location: Kilkenny
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Re: Ueshiba the monomaniac?

I think what Mark was getting at (and thanks for the thought provoking comments) was that did obsessive training make these exceptional men better or worse as people? Or what would they have been like WITHOUT such a deep study in which to immerse themselves?
Through solo training, they seemed to internalize their intensely competitive drives, as opposed to externalize it (by physically crushing opponents). I don't know. None of the high level individuals strike me as being sadists, but, according to his students, Sagawa encouraged them to go out and get into fights, Ueshiba injured ukes (and possibly had blood on his hands pre-war?) in his younger days. Even Horikawa was notorious for extremely tough practice when he was younger (I have this on first-hand information plus I've experienced some of these techniques and training methods).

The point I'm trying to make is this obsessive mindset seemed to cut them off from their fellow humans at some level: they saw them as problems to be overcome. To their great credit, Ueshiba and Horikawa seemed to have radically changed in later age. Perhaps this might partly be attributed to the social effects of practicing calligraphy, dance and religious rites within a community? Interestingly, Sagawa didn"t seem to put much stock in anything outside of bujutsu. Neither did Sokaku.
This change didn"t seem to happen to them.

The other question to ask of this kind of training is, what do we want Budo to be? To me (and I believe most praticioners) it is about achieving balance, both with oneself and with society, family etc. If one aspect starts to take precedence (for example the will to dominate others, the desire for fame etc), then can one be said to be a good budoka? There are no easy answers, but these are questions one must ask IMO.
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